MEDIA RELEASE: When shall we
ever learn? 3/12/99
Fifteen years on there continues to be a "reckless and
depraved
indifference" to the community. Please refer to the attached
reports on
"Bhopal--Fifteen Years Later".
"The wind carried the clouds of gas out over the surrounding
community,
exposing more than 500,000 people to the poisons."
"the largest chemical corporations have not only degraded
the world's
ecosystems, but also violated basic human rights: the right to
life, health
and a livable environment."
Yet in Brisbane, Australia, one of the worlds largest chemical
corporations,
the Dupont Chemical Company of America is reputed to have made a
$10 million
"donation" to assist in the fast-track establishment of
the University of
Queensland's Institute of Molecular Biology, a huge laboratory
complex over
the road from an established residential community.
No environmental impact assessment, risk assessment, or traffic
report have
been made available to the residents. Prof John Hay, VC of the
UQ, admits
that it has no emergency procedures for the community if
something goes
wrong. Yet facilities proposed include bulk chemical and gas
stores,
flammable oils and toxic liquid, and laboratories for experiments
with
bacteria/viruses and genetically modified organisms (GMO's).
These laboratories will be rated up to PC3 against Australian
Standard
AS224.3, 1995. Examples of viruses in this classification include
Yellow
Fever and Japanese Encephalitis. No significant buffer zone
exists between
homes and the proposed laboratories, even though concerned
residents have
called for a 10Km buffer zone in the siting of such facilities.
In the Courier Mail, Page 21 of 22 November 1999, Project
Services, a
business unit of the Department of Public Works, have advertised
a
MINISTERIAL REZONING of the whole of the St Lucia campus (and an
adjoining
public park) as "community infrastructure", to avoid
scrutiny under the
provisions of the Integrated Planning Act 1997. Back to the
"bad old days"!
What does it take for our elected representatives and these huge
corporations to take heed of the concerns of ordinary people, in
the
inappropriate location of high risk facilities such as the IMB at
St Lucia,
and the anciliary Natural Sciences Precinct (NSP) at Long Pocket?
We all live in Bhopal!
Biohazard Action Alliance
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The Biohazard Action Alliance (BAA) has been formed from an
amalgamation of
local community groups that are opposed to the inappropriate
location of
Biotechnology Research Laboratories within the residential
environs of
Brisbane. http://www.rag.org.au/baa
E-Mail: biohazard@rag.org.au
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This page is maintained by
The Rivermouth Action Group Inc
as a community service.